Man City response to Kyle Walker anger does Premier League a favour

"Can we play you every week?"

Manchester City are almost never subjected to such a chant, but you could forgive Bournemouth fans for being giddy as they celebrated a win over the Premier League champions. On this evidence, Andoni Iraola's side will have to form a queue.

The unbeaten run for Pep Guardiola and his men went in midweek to Spurs in the cup and here was a first league defeat of the season to hammer home how much the Blues are struggling. If anyone was tempted to declare the title race over after Arsenal's lunchtime defeat to Newcastle, City never looked like giving any merit to that particular point despite a Josko Gvardiol consolation as they went down 2-1.

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It was a sloppy performance from City that got exactly what it deserved, with the home team not necessarily wanting it more but running harder for it - again something you do not normally associate with a Guardiola side. On the touchline, the manager expressed some frustration but even he was restrained in reflection of how much the team are struggling at the minute.

Guardiola has grown increasingly frustrated with an injury list that still shows little signs of improving. City's manager has this week stressed the need for his stars to play through the pain, yet even as Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku returned to the squad for Bournemouth, John Stones and Ruben Dias added to the absentees.

There is not much to be done though; City are not the first team to have injuries and it is exacerbated because they deliberately have a small squad because that is what Guardiola prefers. A report published recently showed the players to have averaged over 60 games a season since 2018 and not only were seven of the top 10 City players but four of them - Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan and Ederson - started at the Vitality so at the very least this is not new.

That still doesn't make it easy to navigate though, especially on a drizzly day on the south coast up against a Bournemouth side that have already defeated Arsenal here this season. Iraola has taken them to another level, and after a double save from Ederson in the second minute it was no surprise that Bournemouth were soon celebrating the opening goal.

Milos Kerkez burst past Foden and Antoine Semenyo held off Josko Gvardiol to turn and place the ball in the far corner to delight the home fans. City players couldn't use it as an excuse, but they were just that crucial split-second off the pace.

City are used to going behind this season, and one of their biggest strengths in recent times has been having the patience to wait for their opportunities and strike when it matters. There were signs of that at Bournemouth, but the second any promising foundations were built they were wiped out within one or two Bournemouth passes; as has often been the case this season, it has taken longer for City to break down a team than to be broken.

It said a lot when one wave of second-half pressure from City fell apart and Walker made a hash of getting it, ceding possession to Semenyo then fouling him and punching the ball in frustration. Guardiola signalled to his bench but while it was Rico Lewis who came on it was Nathan Ake who was unable to continue.

Already 2-0 down by this point after Evanilson had turned in a Kerkez cross midway through the second half, this felt like a day when City's bucket had too many holes to stop it from emptying.

Gvardiol added to his catalogue of brilliant goals with a towering header to make the last 15 minutes interesting, and the Bournemouth taunts died down in a tense period of injury time. Even if City felt they had any complaints from the game, they would likely not have had the energy to air them.

City's vulnerability does the Premier League a favour, adding an excitement to the title race with the sense that both the Blues and Arsenal are not as formidable as they were last year. Liverpool will be encouraged by that, and Aston Villa and others may also feel emboldened.

As far as Guardiola is concerned though, it is about surviving the next week. A tricky Champions League tie in Lisbon and a trip to Brighton offers both testing matches and lots of travel time that will limit recovery on a squad that is heavily depleted with five missing and plenty of others on their knees.

The away end sang about fighting to the end, but right now City can only think about getting through the next seven days.